Nephew (band)

Nephew
Nephew playing at Roskilde Festival 2010.
Background information
Origin	Århus, Denmark
Genres	Rock, Indie pop, Space rock
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Copenhagen Records
Website	Official site
Members	Simon Kvamm Kristian Riis Søren Arnholt Kasper Toustrup René Munk Thalund
Past members	Jonas Juul Jeppesen

Nephew is a Danish rock band, formed in 1996, in Århus. They had their breakthrough in 2004 with the release of their second album USADSB. The release coincided with lead singer Simon Kvamm's highly successful appearances on Danish television in the cult comedy show Drengene fra Angora, which helped boost the band's popularity. USADSB went double platinum in Denmark and spawned six hit singles.

The band uses an unusual mixture of Danish and English in their lyrics;^[1] they started singing mostly in English with just a few Danish lyrics, but gradually, they have been using Danish more frequently in their songs. The band considers Depeche Mode as one of its major influences^{[citation needed]}.

History

Early Days and Swimming Time (1996-2001)

The band was formed in 1996 by Simon Kvamm, Kristian Riis, Jonas Juul Jeppesen, and Søren Arnholt, all of whom were studying musicology at the university of Århus. In 1997 they participated in DM i Rock (Danish Championships in Rock), where they reached the semi-finals. In 1998 Jonas Juul Jeppesen, who was until then the bassist in the band, left the band, and was replaced by the current bassist Kasper Toustrup.^[1] After recording their first demo-cd in 1999, they got some airtime on the Danish radio station P3.^[2]

The band's first studio album Swimming Time was released in 2000, on the small label Martian Records. The album was well received by both critics and fans, and the band's gig calendar became even more busy than it already was, and the band performed both on Camp Stage at Roskilde Festival and a couple of venues in Germany. In spite of the band's success, the band members lost their enthusiasm and decided to take a break in 2001, but during their farewell concert in Germany, they rediscovered their passion for music and decided to stay together.^[1]

USADSB and Breakthrough (2001-2006)

Nephew's second studio album named USADSB was released in 2004. It was very well received and is seen as their "breakthrough" album in Denmark and elsewhere. This is in large part because of Simon Kvamm's participation in the cult Danish satire show Drengene Fra Angora, which helped make him a household name. USADSB sold far more copies that Swimming Time, gaining quadruple-platinum status in Denmark for over 120,000 copies sold. Aside from Denmark, USADSB has been released in Japan, Germany and Norway.

Interkom Kom Ind (2006-2009)

In October 2006, Nephew released a new album, Interkom Kom Ind, which received many positive reviews, and has fared well commercially both in Denmark and other countries in Europe. The singles, Igen & Igen &, Science Fiction & Familien and Mexico Ligger I Spanien rotated heavily on Danish radio.

At the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards, they met Timbaland, who asked them to work on his forthcoming Timbaland Presents Shock Value album. Due to other commitments, Nephew couldn't contribute to the album, but they did produce a remix of the song "The Way I Are." Only the vocals from the original song are the same, the Danish band having completely redone the song. Nephew frontman Simon Kvamm also delivers new vocals for the song, which were included on the single release. The remix samples the melody from Igen og Igen, as well as translating lyrics from the song which are then incorporated throughout the remix.

On November 5, 2007 Nephew released a live-box set (Live-CD/2DVD) entitled Roskilde 07.07.07 based upon a much-acclaimed live performance at Orange Scene at the 2007 Roskilde Festival. The Live CD features songs from the albums USADSB and Interkom Kom Ind, including a special version of 'Hospital' which features a guest performance by Danish rapper L.O.C.. The Special Edition of the box also features the band's remix of the Timbaland track The Way I Are.

In September 2008 a Nephew remix of the song "Allein Allein" by German band Polarkreis 18 appeared in Danish radio.

Danmark/Denmark (2009-2012)

Nephew performing at Roskilde Festival 2010

Nephew released their fourth album, "Danmark/Denmark" in Denmark on 5 June 2009, the Danish Constitution Day. Following a performance at Roskilde Festival in 2010, the band announced that they would be taking a break from touring and Denmark, although they did play shows in Norway and China. On November 23, 2011, they announced via their official website that they would be playing several concerts in July 2012 as a part of the Grøn Koncerter, or "Green Concert." They also announced in the same press release that they had begun work on Hjertestarter and expected to release it sometime in the Fall of 2012. Nephew also did the official football song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa: "The Danish Way to Rock". Furthermore two of the band members, René Munk Thalund and Kristian Riis, worked as backing vocals for Kim Wilde's song "Hey! You!" on her Come Out and Play. The song was produced by Carsten Heller, who both mix and produce for Nephew.^[3]

Hjertestarter (2012 onward)

Hjertestarter was released on 2. November 2012. When released, the album went straight to the number one most sold album that month and the iTunes store. They have preformed at various events with the newest single, of the same name; most recently the Danish Music Awards'12. The third single "Gå med dig" featuring Marie Key went Gold.

Band members

Current

• Simon Kvamm – lead vocals, keys, song writer(1996–present)
• Kristian Riis – guitar, backing vocals (1996–present)
• Søren Arnholt – drums, backing vocals (1996–present)
• Kasper Toustrup – bass guitar (1998–present)
• René Munk Thalund – keyboard, (2005–present)

Former

• Jonas Juul Jeppesen – bass guitar (1996–1998)

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Live albums

EPs

• 1998: Tunes (demo)
• 1998: Things to Do (demo)
• 1999: Downtown Europe (demo)
• 2007: Mexico Ligger I Spanien
• 2010: Police Bells & Church Sirens

Singles

Others

• 2000: "We Don't Need You Here"
• 2003: "Movie Klip"
• 2004: "En Wannabe Darth Vader"
• 2004: "Superliga"
• 2004: "Ordenspoliti"
• 2005: "Worst/Best Case Scenario"
• 2005: "Byens Hotel"
• 2006: "Igen & Igen &"
• 2006: "Science Fiction Og Familien"
• 2007: "Mexico Ligger I Spanien"
• 2007: "The Way I Are" (Timbaland vs. Nephew)
• 2009: "Sov for Satan Mand"

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Article about Nephew on DanishMusic.info". DanishMusic.info. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
2. ↑ "Nephew's profile at iMelos". iMelos. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
3. ↑ "Nephew - Wikipedia, den frie encyklopædi" (in (Danish)). Da.wikipedia.org. 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2012-10-11. 
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "danishcharts.com - Discography Nephew". Hitlisten. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2011. 
5. ↑ "Album Top-40". Hitlisten. IFPI Danmark & Nielsen Music. 1 April 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2011. 
6. ↑ "Album Top-40". Hitlisten. IFPI Danmark & Nielsen Music. 25. maj 2007. Retrieved 29. december 2011.  Check date values in: |date=, |accessdate= (help)
7. ↑ "Album Top-40". Hitlisten. IFPI Danmark & Nielsen Music. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2011. 
8. ↑ Jeppesen, Lars Löbner (29 February 2012). "Nephew varsler hjertestartende defibrillator-rock". Gaffa. Retrieved 3 March 2012. 

Sources

• http://www.imelos.com/artists/nephew.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nephew.

• Nephew's official site in Danish and in English
• Nephew's official Myspace page
• Official Twitter page
• Nephew on last.fm